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Every so often I have to revisit my roots. I find it especially easy when I am not sure what to cook for dinner, and I do not want to put too much thought into the process. I know that I have expressed to you in the past that my family is from Trinidad, I was not actually born there, but I am just as Trini as the natives. 🙂

Tonight for dinner I am going to make one of the easiest and tastiest go to dishes for in a Trinidadian household…Pelau. The easy thing about making Pelau is that it is a one pot meal. The process is not hard at all, and has almost no frustration factor. The best way to describe Pelau is a stew of rice, meat, and peas. I cannot be too specific because there are so many variations. The rice should be parboiled rice because it will hold best. But the meat can range from chicken to beef, or even pork. The “peas” can be pigeon peas (gandules), lentils, or in some cases red kidney beans. This meal pretty much can accommodate whatever you have in your pantry or refrigerator at the time.

Here is a video recipe from “Mr. Caribbean Pot” that can give you some guidelines, but remember that Pelau is not a strict dish, you have room to play with the ingredients, just a little.